Phở Gà: the OG chicken noodle soup for the mind body and soul, the cure to absolutely everything in life, the ultimate Vietnamese comfort dish that feels like a warm hug… 😬🍜
This was my favourite dish growing up. I would always look forward to the weekend for our long family lunches when my parents would be cooking this for us. Every time I go back home, my mum still welcomes me with a warm bowl of Pho. Needless to say, it’s got a special place in my heart.
Usually, you’re meant to simmer the broth for HOURS long and continuously scrape off the impurities until you get that rich and clear aromatic broth. However I took a shortcut and tossed everything in the Instant Pot instead. Managed to come up with a decent bowl of Pho in less than an hour! The broth is really clear and aromatic. Absolutely no match to my mum’s home cooking but this will do for whenever you’re short of time. Trust me it might seem lengthy but for most of the time you’ll just be sitting and waiting for the Instant Pot to finish cooking!
Easy Instantpot Chicken Pho
Ingredients
- Soup
- 1/2 onion
- 1/2 purple onion
- 2 dry cinnamon sticks
- 5 star anise pods
- 1 tsp of black cardamom seeds
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3 l water
- Ginger
- 1 Chicken chopped into smaller portions you can use cuts but bear in mind they must have bone on – the more bones, the richer the broth! Otherwise your broth might become pretty bland
- 1 pack of flat rice pho noodles 4oog – if you can source fresh noodles, even better!
Toppings:
- Green onions
- Chilli
- Your choice of fresh herbs toppings coriander, mint, Thai basil,…
Condiments:
- Fish sauce
- Wedge of lime
Instructions
- Peel the ginger and onions and cut into large slices
- Char the ginger, onions and cinnamon stick over an open fire (alternatively put on a baking tray in the broiler on high temperature until you see dark burnt patches)
- Toast the star anise and cardamom seeds in a pan for about 2 minutes
- Rub some salt and pepper over the chicken and place it in the instant pot on ‘Sauté’ mode
- Sauté the chicken
- Pour cold water into the pot (about 4-5 cm above the chicken)
- Add the toasted spices, charred onion, ginger, cinnamon stick and the rest of the salt and pepper into the pot
- Switch to ‘Broth’ mode (More + High pressure), close the lid and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. The longer you leave it, the richer the broth will become.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rice noodles. Depending on the type that you purchase, you might need to soak beforehand and subsequently boil for a few minutes, then run it through cold water once the boiling finishes. If you can get hold of fresh noodles, that’s even better!
- Wash and chop some green onions, fresh chilli and any additional herbs of your choosing
- Once the broth finishes cooking, let the instant pot decompress. Taste the soup and see if you need any more seasoning.
- Take out the chicken and cut the meat into small slices
- (Optional) Filter out the broth with a sieve and discard the charred spices (I usually just leave them sinking at the bottom)
- At this point I like to ‘blanche’ the rice noodles into the broth so that it’s nice and warm when served
- Assemble: in a large bowl add the noodles at the base, then some slices of chicken and some green onions on top
- Pour the warm broth into the bowl
- Top with fresh herbs, chilli and consume with some squeezed lime and fish sauce
- Et voilà, enjoy!
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